Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Local, Worldwide & Loco news

Ordinarily, the posts I write come directly from my head. Of course the information stored in my brain has come from somewhere else but everything you have read here with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions has been in my own words; they were examples.

Today, however, is going to be one of those days when the majority of my post comes directly from someone else. We subscribe to several "trade journals", one being Mortuary Management, which has a section with News Briefs. I thought that since many people don't even know this publication exists, let alone the content, I figured I'd share some of it. I tried to select some material that may be of interest to some of my readers concerning their somewhat specific slices of this planet....

Bay area a favorite for scattering

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San Francisco, California.The San Francisco Bay area is becoming an increasingly popular place to scatter cremated remains.Funeral director Buck Kemphausen told local media, "There's something calming about the water. You have to say that if there is something spiritual about it, this is one of the most beautiful places in the world to have it done."The cost for a general sea scattering ranges from $1,145 to $1,580 in Northern California, Kemphausen said, and he charges an additional $895 for a family accompanied scattering in the Bay. The Neptune Society of Northern California said it's rates begin at $295 for a sea scattering not attended by friends or family and go as high as $1,995 for a group of 60...

Senator advocates new Tissue disposal method

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Albany, New York

Should the law allow human remains to be flushed down the drain? One State Senator believes so.

Kemp Hannon has introduced legislation to institute a process called alkaline hydrolysis under the states definition of cremation. The process uses a solution to "digest" organic matter into a gooey substance that can be safely dumped into the sewer system. It is advocated by teaching hospitals as a way to dispose of research cadavers and other waste human tissue.

Opponents are dubbing the bill "Hannibal's Law" due to it's gruesome nature. Hannon says his bill is only intended to give teaching hospitals an inexpensive means to dispose of human remains that they must now cremate.

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Re-Use of graves approved

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London, England

Many English cemeteries are expected to reach capacity within decades, so to ease overcrowding, the government has approved the re-use of grave sites.

England and Wales are expected to run out of burial space in 30 years, although urban areas may run out of room sooner. According to the government, London itself is 12 years away from reaching capacity.

Re-use would be permitted only where graves were 100 years old and permission of the family has been sought; approval would not be necessary if the family could not be contacted. Cemetery managers are currently allowed to exhume old remains, deepen a grave and rebury the remains, leaving space on top for a second corpse.

Despite Cremation rates of more than 70 percent, Britain buries about 150,000 people a year.

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Death Channel to begin Telecasts

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Germany

It was only a matter of time before death hit the airwaves. This fall, German TV will begin 24 hour telecasts featuring programming on mourning, cemeteries and obituaries. The programming will be produced by the country's Association of Funeral Directors. "We want the channel to help remove the taboos around death," said Kirstin Gernig, a spokesperson for the association. Reports on centuries old rituals around death, obituaries made by surviving friends and family members, or information on funeral bureaucracy are also on tap.

"We don't want to proselytize," said Gernig. "We want to provide information so people know everything that is involved." The channel will be partly funded by obituaries that can be commissioned or produced by loved ones, and an ethics advisory board will supervise the programming.

The channel is scheduled to begin broadcasting on satellite and on the Internet in November.

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Lawsuit filed in Prosthetic Leg Mishap

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Idaho

A woman has filed a lawsuit against English Funeral Chapels and Crematory, claiming the company cremated her husband before she had given permission and either destroyed or discarded his prosthetic leg, which was worth $7,000.

The funeral home claims the deceased did not have any prosthetics.

DeeDeeStrimas says that if they had washed and prepared his body for cremation as they claimed, they would have noticed his artificial leg. In addition to the cost of the leg, the widow is seeking $10,000 for emotional and physical distress.

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Cemetery Drug ring Uncovered

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Taiwan

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Two suspects were arrested in a cemetery for manufacturing illegal drugs with a street value of more than $3 million.

A total of 220 kilograms of crystallized ketamine and semi-finished products were seized after a lengthy investigation, plus production equipment. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic for veterinary use and is in the same family of drugs as PCP.

The suspects said they thought no one would suspect that a drug-producing operation would be located in a cemetery, especially if they worked late at night.

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Here's a special one..............................................

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Box Buries Old Marriage Vows, Ring

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Manhattan, New York

After 20 years of marriage, Jill Testa survived a divorce, but wanted to close the lid on that chapter of her life. So she created the Wedding Ring Coffin to do just that.

She and her brother sell the six inch by 2 inch wood caskets to house and bury wedding rings. Brass plaques can be added with sayings such as "Bury the Past and Move on to a New Tomorrow" and "Six Feet Isn't Deep Enough." The split-lid, velvet-lined boxes sell for $29.95 and are available at weddingringcoffin.com

These are just a smattering of what's in this edition. Forgive me if you've heard any of this before. Some might be interesting, some might seem ridiculous, some just funny. Whatever, I hope you enjoyed this and I want to give a special thanks to the Editors and Publishers of Mortuary Management.

2 comments:

i live in the bay area of northern california... and i cannot believe they allow so much ash scattering... this place is hi-brow tree hugger heaven...and that just doesn't sound like something they know is going on... i hope they never get wind of it....it or they will inevitably start some kind of protest!!!

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